Coin selector



J. GOTTFRIED 7 Jan. 18, 1944.

COIN SELECTOR I Filed June 11, 1941 Patented Jan. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN SELECTOR John Gottfried, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to National Slug Rejectors, Inc., St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application June 11, 1941, Serial No. 397,594

.1 Claim. (01. 194.101)

This invention relates in general to coin selectors, and more particularly to improvements in coin selectors for accepting coins of two denominations and separating spurious coins or tokens therefrom.

This device utilizes the general principle whereby coins propelled by gravity are passed through an intense magnetic field to change their normal trajectories in proportion to their relative conductivities and thence the coins traveling in free trajectories are subjected to an impact test to measure their relative resiliency to separate acceptable coins from spurious coins, tokens, etc.

I hand portion of Fig. 1. A sloping land I, integral In previous selectors of this character where coins of two difierent denominations were utilized it was necessary to employ separate magnetic fields in their respective coin passages for the The principal object of the invention is theprovision of an intense magnetic field at right angles to and through two parallel coin passageways. A further object of the invention is the provision of paramagnetic pole pieces between two adjacent coin passageways for providing concentrated flux path through the two passageways.

With these and other objects in view, my invention lies in the novel combination and arrangement of elements described, two embodiments of which is shown in the accompanying drawin in which:

Fig.1 is a side elevation of the device with cover member removed.

' Fig. 2 is an elevation of the side opposite Fig. 1, with cover member removed.

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation taken through section line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of an alternative construction taken through section line 3-3, Fig. 1, showing the application of auxihary pole pieces.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of-the device showing the auxiliary pole pieces shown in Fig. 4.

Referring toFig. 1, main plate I serves as a frame for the entire apparatus. This plate may be made'of paramagnetic material, and as an alternate, may be constructed of diamagnetic material, such as brass, in conjunction with auxiliary pole pieces, to be hereinafter described.

. tact with the surface of the plate I.

Gate 2 is secured to the side of the plate by pivots 3 and 4 and is held in-close proximity with the surface of the plate I by spring 5 positioned about pivot screw 3 and engaging the gate at stud 6 at one end and having its opposite end in con- The space between the gate and the plate I serves a an entrance passageway for coins in the upper leftwith the gate, protrudes inwardly and contacts the frame to provide a coin runway over which the coins are directed. A diamagnetic offset bracket 8 is secured to the inside surface of the plate I by screw 9 and serves to retain a twopole permanent magnet assembly I0 with its pole pieces flush with the inside surface of the bracket, thereby providing a continuation of the coin passageway between the bracket and the flush sur-' faces of the magnet pole pieces and the plate I.

The magnet assemblies III and 2| consist of a simple horse shoe magnet cast into a housing of diamagnetic material such as zinc alloy or plastic composition. This construction provides a simple means for securing the magnet in proper relationship with the other elements of the device.

When a proper coin is deposited in the runway in the upper left-handopening between the gate 2 and the main plate I, it will descend by gravity to the land I and continue it movement downward along the land 1 between the bracket 8. and the main frame I to pass the pole pieces of the magnet assembly I 0 and thence in a free trajectory to a point II onthe anvil I2, where the coin will rebound over barrier I3 to the ac,- ceptance passageway I4.

The side of the device shown in Fig. 1 is adapted for the use of nickel alloy coins such as the U. S. 5 piece.

Referring to' Fig. 2, which shows the opposite side of the device, a gate 2a is pivotally mounted upon the main 'plate I by pivots I5 and I6 and positioned symmetricallyopposite the gate 2 on theopposite side of the plate. The gate is held in close proximitywith the main plate by spring I'I, one end of which is secured to the stud I8 integral with the gate and its opposite end urged against the inside surface of the plate I, A sloping land I9, integral with the gate 2-11, is adapted to provide a runway for coins deposited under the influence of gravity in the opening at the upper right-hand portion of the gate.

A diamagnetic offset bracket 2|! is retained by screw 9 to the main plate I and serves as a support for a magnetassembly il having two pole pieces flush with its inside surface, thus providing a passageway for the moving of coins between the inside surface of the bracket 20 and the plate I. The magnet assembly 2I is positioned so that its pole pieces are directly opposite the pole pieces of magnet assembly I secured to the opposite side of the plate.

Since this side of the selector i adapted for the separation of high conductivity coins, such as the U. S. silver piece, the anvil I2 is omitted and two adjustable abutments substituted to carry the coins in proper paths.

Abutment 22 is positioned in a manner whereby coins having conductivity higher than that of acceptable value will impinge thereupon and be deflected into a rejection passageway 23. An abutment 24 is pivotally mounted upon a support 25 at 26 and adapted to assume the position shown in solid lines, Fig. 2, through the action of gravity. The ofiset end of abutment 24 is adapted to engage the edgeof a coin moving in a free trajectory. Abutment 24 is adapted to be tilted by the impact of a coin to the position shown in dotted lines.

Coins of acceptable conductivity, after leaving the land I9 in a free trajectory, will impinge upon the abutment 24 and thus move it downwardly against the restraining action of gravity suificiently far to cause a dime to roll to the right of the offset portion into the acceptance passageway I4.

It has been found that coins having borderline acceptance values are accurately separated by means of the pivotally mounted abutment by taking advantage of their slightly different weights and trajectories through the compensating action of the tilting abutment.

Referring to Fig.3, the passageway adjacent to the magnet assembly ID for the nickel coins is clearly shown at 21 and the passageway for coins of high conductivity is shown at 28 between the magnet assembly 2I and the main plate I, both passages being parallel upon opposite sides of the main plate I and between the magnet assemblies I0 and 2I When plate I is made from paramagnetic ma terial it is obvious that the portions of the plate between the pole pieces of the two magnet assemblies will serve as conducting media for the magnetic flux which traverses both the coin passageways 21 and28.

In the alternate method of construction, and referring to the fragmentary figures 4 and 5, when a diamagnetic plate is utilized, two paramagnetic inserts 29 and 30 are shown retained in apertures in the main plate I for providing high permeability paths for the flux of the magnet assemblies I0 and 2I.- The pole pieces, as shown in Figs, 4 and 5, are positioned between the magnet assemblies and opposite their respective poles, thus two paths of intense confined magnetic field are projected'substantially at right angles to the passageways 21 and 28, which paths are traversed by coins passing in either runway.

. tion passageway 23.

magnetic plate is positioned between the magnet assemblies. I,

Ineoperation. and assuming that a nickel alloy coin is deposited in the entrance passageway, shown in Fig. 1 it will roll along the land I and intercept the magnetic fiux provided by the two magnet assemblies I0 and 2I and then continue in a free predetermined trajectory determined by the strength of the magnetic fiux to-a point II upon the anvil I2 and thence rebound over barrier I3 into the acceptance passageway I4.

Spurious coins and other coins having different conductivity and resilience will define a difierent path after passing through the magnetic field and thence will be conducted tothe rejec- Assuming a proper coin of high conductivity, such as silver, is deposited in the right-hand entrance, shown in Fig. 2, it will likewise roll along the sloping land I9 and traverse the intense ma netic field and fall in a free trajectory and be intercepted by abutment 24 where it will rebound to the right into the acceptance passageway I4. In the event a coin of greater conductivity than'an acceptable coin is deposited in the runway shown in Fig. 2, it will traverse the magnetic field and its trajectory will be shorter, thus the coin will impinge upon abutment 22 and be deflected into the rejection passageway 23.

It has been found that, due to the concentrat- In the event a coin having lesser conductivity than that of an acceptable value is deposited in the runway shown in Fig. 2, the trajectory will be greater and hence the coin will impinge upon abutment 24 sufficiently far to the left to be deflected into the rejection passageway 23.

Through th action of means not shown, the gates 2 and 2a may be opened to release articles suspended in the passageway and also, through additional apparatus not shown, the magnet assemblies can be manually cleared of paramagnetic coins which may have been retained against the magnet pole pieces.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In a coin selector for receiving coins of two denominations propelled by gravity, a sloping coin runway for conducting coins oi one denomination, a second coin runway positioned adjacent to and running parallel with the first-named coin runway for conducting coins of second denomination, a pair of bi-pole permanent magnets positioned in and adjacent with opposite outside walls of said runways, the pole faces of said magnets positioned opposite each other with a space therebetween, a diamagnetic partition positioned between the runways and the said magnets, a pair of paramagnetic pole pieces positioned in said diamagnetic partition adjacent to and in spaced relation with the poles of said magnets, said pole pieces having areas substantially the same size as the areas of said magnet pole faces, said magnets adapted to provide a magnetic field traversing both the said runways and concentrated through the said pole pieces, whereby coins of two denominations moving in their respective runways will be intercepted by the said magnetic field to change the respective velocity of each said coin in proportion to its conductivity.

' JOHN GO'I'IFRIED. 

